Tony Taylor (footballer, born 1946)

For other people named Tony Taylor, see Tony Taylor (disambiguation).

Tony Taylor

Personal information
Full name	Anthony Taylor [1] [2]
Date of birth	(1946-09-06) 6 September 1946 (age 76)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s)	Left back
Youth career
	Barrhead Thistle F.C.
1962–1964	Kilmarnock
1964–1967	Celtic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1967–1968	Morton	22	(8)
1968–1974	Crystal Palace	195	(8)
1974–1976	Southend United	56	(1)
1975–1976	→ Hamilton Academical (loan)	8	(2)
1976–1977	Swindon Town	26	(0)
1977	Bristol Rovers	12	(0)
1977–1978	Portsmouth	17	(0)
1978–1979	Kilmarnock	2	(0)
1979	Albion Rovers	3	(0)
1979–1980	Northampton Town	4	(0)
1980	Panhellenic Toronto
Total		345	(19)
Managerial career
1988–1989	Canada
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Anthony Taylor (born 6 September 1946 in Glasgow) is a former professional footballer, who made 345 appearances in the Scottish League and Football League playing mainly as a left back.

Playing career

Taylor began his career at Kilmarnock in 1962, before moving to Celtic from 1964 to 1967. However he did not make a first team appearance for either club.

In 1967, he signed for Morton making 22 appearances before signing for Crystal Palace on 31 October 1968. ^[1] Taylor played in 195 league games for Crystal Palace between then and 1974, scoring eight goals. It was during this period that he was converted from a winger to left back. ^[3] His debut came on 9 November 1968 in a 2–0 away win against Oxford United and Taylor was ever present for the remainder of that season (25 appearances) which saw Palace reach the top tier for the first time. ^[4] In Crystal Palace's subsequent four seasons in the top flight, Taylor made 30, 36, 41 and 40 appearances respectively. ^[5]

Crystal Palace were relegated in 1973 but Taylor was Player of the Year and remained thereafter making 20 appearances in the 1973–74 season ^[6] before being transferred to Southend United in August 1974, ^[1] where he made 56 appearances over two seasons. He then saw out his career with spells at, Swindon Town, Bristol Rovers, Portsmouth, Kilmarnock, Albion Rovers and Northampton Town.

Coaching career

Taylor agreed to take over as player/manager of Athlone Town A.F.C. in August 1977 but despite playing some pre season friendlies resigned before the 1977–78 League of Ireland season commenced.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 1980, he moved to Canada and played for Panhellenic, a Greek team in the National Soccer League, a semi-pro Toronto league. ^{[7] [8]} The high point with this team was playing in a tournament against Benfica, Toronto Italia and Partizan Belgrade.^{[ citation needed ]}

After working as an assistant coach with Celtic, Taylor became coach of Canada's national boy's youth team in the 1980s. He also served as the (senior) national team manager during an unsuccessful bid to qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals.

Taylor is a Technical Staff Member of the Burlington Youth Soccer Club in Burlington, Ontario.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. Mike Purkiss & Nigel Sands. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. p. 342. ISBN   0907969542.
2. "Tony Taylor". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
3. Mike Purkiss & Nigel Sands. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. p. 90. ISBN   0907969542.
4. Mike Purkiss & Nigel Sands. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. p. 231. ISBN   0907969542.
5. Mike Purkiss & Nigel Sands. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. pp. 233–239. ISBN   0907969542.
6. Mike Purkiss & Nigel Sands. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. p. 241. ISBN   0907969542.
7. Jose, Colin (2001). On-Side - 125 Years of Soccer in Ontario. Vaughan, Ontario: Ontario Soccer Association and Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum. p. 237.
8. "Blazers Drop 3-2 Decision". Buffalo Courier-Express . 14 July 1980. p. 13.

External links

• Tony Taylor at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
• Sporting-heroes.net Taylor's photograph and statistics with Crystal Palace